A blog designed to facilitate communication about education, teaching, schools, labor issues, social justice, politics and ordinary life. Statements or expressions of opinions herein 'do not' represent the views or official positions of DCPS, American Federation of Teachers, Washington Teachers' Union or its members. Views are my own. Anyone who claims otherwise is violating the spirit and purpose of this blog.

6 Pages

Jan 27, 2011

Having Our Say At The Education Transition Summit

By Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice President

For the first time ever, the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) sponsored an Education Transition Summit on Tuesday, January 25 at the Kellogg Conference Center. Of late, teacher turnout has been low at union sponsored events due to what amounts in my opinion to a disenfranchised membership. I arrived at the event shortly before it started and could hardly believe my eyes when swarms of teachers and school personnel starting walking through the glass doors. Certainly, the over 450 plus crowd was more than I could have ever hoped for.

There were many smiles, hugs, pats on the back and congratulations about our recent WTU victory. The lines were endless and the Kellogg Conference staff were so accommodating by doubling the number of seats for so many unexpected guests. When no more seats could be provided due to fire code violations, teachers were willing to stand for hours despite the discomfort. Our members filled not only the on campus garage but also an overflow parking lot and off-street parking.

The Education Transition Summit primarily focused on the IMPACT evaluation tool and working conditions. As I strolled through the room, I took the time to listen to teachers' dialogue about what has transpired in these last three years under the Rhee/Henderson regime. One thing that everyone agreed on is that teachers have been robbed of the 'joy of teaching' and replaced with a one-size regimen that does not fit all. One teacher spoke of how she can no longer use centers to teach skills to her young Pre-K students. Teachers talked about no matter how well they had mastered IMPACT - they dealt with an inordinate amount of stress about the possibility of being caught doing something wrong instead of applauded for what they do right. Many talked about being considered great teachers until IMPACT where everyone is the sum total of their IMPACT score. Get a low number and you're no longer a great teacher. Teachers and school personnel were clear what was needed- a new evaluation tool. When the time came for our members to vote for IMPACT to stay or go - the majority voted for it to be thrown out.

The dialogue seemed to spark hope for many of our members who have bought into the nation-wide teacher bashing campaign that they are worthless and responsible for all of the ills of public education. Tuesday night was a new beginning for the WTU and our members. It marked the first time we were collectively at the table. Given the opportunity to help the new Mayor shape his educational agenda for DCPS, DC teachers and school personnel rose to the challenge. After all who better than us to provide first-hand knowledge about what goes on in the classroom, our schools and public education. One attendee emailed me: "That was a great meeting the other night.What you experienced in that room was a much larger version of what I saw in the small group of teachers - a real appreciation to finally be heard." Another member said: "let's do it again."

As the WTU General Vice-President, I would be interested in hearing your comments about the transition summit. What were the highlights of the evening? Is there anything that you would have changed? Do you have recommendations for the future? ... I'm listening.

44 comments:

Sheila H. Gill
said...

I also attended the 266 meeting and was pleased with the outcome. Attorney Darryl Anderson will represent the 266 on February 11, 2011 in DC Superior Court. It is our goal to move the 266 case forward to arbitration and request that the 266 WTU Wrongfully Terminated Educators to be made whole.

It is definitely a long process. However, Nathan and Candi have committed to fight 4 justice for the 266 until the end. Ditto, it was a good start!!!

How was it advertised, I only heard about it after the event from teachers at my school who I must say could not stop saying good things about the event? Can you tell us more about who was there from DCPS and the mayor's office.

I'm glad the transition summit was successful. I wish Nathan and Candi had been elected last summer when the election was supposed to take place. Unfortunately, I can't wait for change. I am resigning from DCPS within the next few weeks.

I've been bashed, blamed, and beaten enough. Morale at my school is so terribly low. I dread getting out of bed in the morning.

This whole month has been about nothing but testing and paperwork(Dibels, TRC, DCBAS, A-Net, analyzing data from the aforementioned tests and writing up reports, completing report cards and SPED progress reports). I create daily lesson plans that won't be utilized because in reality I have to test students. Those who are not being tested at the time need some self-occupying activities.

I'm a young teacher and I really just want to teach, and I'm going somewhere where I can do that before that flame in me dies out. I'm tired of basing what I teach on whatever will be on the next standardized test and giving kids testing probes to read in lieu of meaningful literature.

I will continue to read this blog and I wish all the teachers in DCPS the best. Stay strong.

Was unfortunately not able to attend, but the account seems to suggest that teachers are going to push for no evaluation system.

Is that where you are going? If so, isn't it likely that parents, the Mayor and many others will line up against teachers.

I get the feeling that the general public feels a lot like President Obama, who said on Tuesday night that teachers are great and deserve respect, but we got to get rid of the "bad" ones. Hard to quarrel with that, in some quarters.

Candi,Thanks for update on Tuesday's summit. I was unable to attend and truly appreciate hearing the comments and concerns of my colleagues.

I want to add that the unsettling feeling at my school is due mainly to the surprise visits from the Master Educators and their lack of knowledge about the specific population of children that is being observed.

In a ballpark calculation, I estimate that the salaries of the 40+ ME's total approximately $3 million. As teachers are being asked to absorb the cost of our budget shortfall, I'd like to propose that first, the Master Educator position should be eliminated. There is no reason that a principal should not be able to fairly evaluate a teacher. Back-up visits for a disputed observation could be made by keeping 2 MEs district-wide or 1 ME per cluster only to observe when there's a dispute.

It should be noted as well that cluster asst. superintendents should also be apprised of principals who cannot fairly evaluate their teachers. These superintendents should provide support/prof development to their principals.

I am sorry I could not attend. I am glad it was a productive meeting. I hope that even more is achieved now.

To 'Kids Are More Than Test Scores': I am sorry to hear you are leaving. I am sure there are many more teachers out there thinking about quitting. How sad is that? It is just so demoralizing.

I agree with the overtesting of our students. They take too many tests, so much so, that a lot of instructional time is lost. maybe that is why the Is it possible that the wasted time testing could be used to teach, practice and engage students and hence bring scores up?

I have never heard of so much testing. It must be having an effect on instruction.

I attended the Summit and would not have missed it for anything! If we want a voice we must be present. It was well organized and very informative. Hopefully our voices will be heard by Mayor Vincent Gray and action will be taken. Keep up the great job Nathan and Candi. Thank you for your job will not be easy.

Anonymous 1/28/11 @ 1:54 pmI guess you are having difficulty reading and comprehending the written word. No one has said that teachers are going to push for no evaluation system. In fact I said and I will repeat:"Teachers and school personnel were clear what was needed- a new evaluation tool. "

It was a great meeting!. I was at the table with 10 other people and 4 extra people sitting behind our table.The dialogue was informative and the age range of the group varied from young to older or new teachers to seasoned teachers. Everyone felt Impact had a negative Impact and did not really help teachers. Impact must go. DCPS can and must do better.

Candi,Am not sure anon. at 154 was twisting your words. His/her concern, like many parents, City Council members, and others rooting for success may be that the starting-from-scratch approach will take years and will be tied up in knots by contentious parties, such as the teachers union.

As a result, there will be no system for teacher evaluation and thus no way to rate teachers, pay them incentives, ID them for professional development programs, and terminate them when all is lost.

Very impressive meeting. Most important was the large turnout. One of the most powerful - of many powerful - moments was the question asked by a young teacher: "Please define rigor." That instantly brought the house down! In the options for IMPACT, it would have been good to see one that recommended working to revise the law that allows dcps to impose an evaluation outside of the collective bargaining process. Montgomery County's teacher evaluation instrument was developed in collaboration with the local teachers' union. Erich Martel Phelps ACE HS

I felt empowered like finally this union is going somewhere. Mayor Gray better watch out because supporting Impact is going to get his ship sunk to the bottom of the ocean just like Fenty and Rhee. Our man Nate is as cool as a cucumber under pressure. A number of the teachers at our table said they would gladly follow him. I was inspired by his leadership style. He is totally different than the former president who would cancel meetings in a heartbeat. Many people who were Parker supporters are now with Nate. It was uplifting from the old head union boss Josh Williams to the chocolate covered strawberries at the end. I wonder if Nate was President earlier would we be in this predicament right now? It is clear he is firmly against Impact and is not ashamed of it. A totally different approach than Parker who always said he cannot do anything about Impact. Nate does not care whether it is negotiable cause "We're going to right this wrong." Candi congratulations "Y'all did the dog gone thing."

We have to disagree to disagree. There are people who post here and some in the general public who want to continue to suggest that DC teachers and school personnel don't want accountability. My point is that this is not the case.

anon 6:01, IMPACT was a "starting-from-scratch approach" and it didn't take long to develop.

Of course, it's not a good example, because it's horrible, and whatever is done next needs to be better than that.

"It will take too long" is not an excuse for not getting it right. Look at all the time that's been wasted up to now trying to rush.

Let's get it right this time. It needn't take forever. Let's check out other evaluation systems that have WORKED.

Let's also admit failure and not try to put lipstick on a pig. If the developers of IMPACT truly care about children, maybe they will be big enough not to let their adult egos get in the way of what's best for kids.

Lets be very clear! We as teachers never said we did not want an evaluation system. We said we wanted a fair system. We said we do not want a subjective evaluation system which is what IMPACT is. We also said why do we have to be evaluated 5 times in nine months. Corporate America evaluates once a year. Of course we understand, we must have an evaluation system, but we want a fair system and I state again not a subjective system as IMPACT. I hope this clarifies the topic on evaluation systems even more.

Of course you are right. Those of us who actually teach children know that teachers have a tremendous amount of accountability. We are accountable to parents, administrators, other teachers, and citizens. In fact accountability is so high that over 50% of new teachers quit during the first five years. Many of these teachers do not have their contracts renewed. K-12 teaching is the most self-selective of all the professions.

What happened in DC is an example of what "reformers" mean by "accountability." To them it means firing older, more expensive teachers to make room for people right out of college. Well, now we know why the union is needed.

It's exciting to see what people can do when they are united. Now DC teachers can concentrate on providing the best possible education for all children.

Keep up the good work, Candi. Do what you can to make certain that DCPS employs only fully qualified teachers with track records of success.

Hi Candi: I was moved to tears with the thought that we were treated like professionals. Thanks to you and the DC Teachers' Union, this was a renassaince event for education.

As a veteran teacher. I experienced a deep and non verbal conflict about the direction of DCPS, and what I could do to help. Now, I do see the light at the end of the tunnel. "If it does not fit," let's re-invent." First, let's get back to a superintendent-not someone who is not highly qualified; thus we have to settle for a Chancelor. Secondly, let's re-examine the process in which new Principals have been hired. Whatever happened to the time when Principals had to teach (preferably in DC) for at least 5 years? The New Leaders, and other quick fix programs are creating "revolving door" principals, who are not invested in the long range plans and success of our students or our system.

If one looks at test statistics in the past 5 years. test scores have not consistently increased (maybe Oprah needs to take a look of the data driven results). As we begin to look at the Core curriculum (National standards), let's make sure we get a head start about how it looks and PD's to prepare us. We or our students cannot afford to be left behind.

In response to your request to comment on the Summit on Tuesday I can only say that it was indeed a hugh step in correcting what has long been a problem with the Union. For the first time since I have been a part of the Union I felt like what we had to say mattered. I moved here from Albuquerque, New Mexico where I felt the union was ineffective and came here where I felt I had again no choice or voice. The 10 years that I have been teaching in DCPS, 8 of them I have achieved superior ratings. I have taught at JH Johnson Middle School in Southeast DC. It has only been in the last 2 years that I have been made to feel that I can't do anything right. Even when we had the last Union election where that other guy was elected, everyone in the building swore that they had voted for the other person, but he remained president. Tell me if that doesn't say your vote does not matter. Anyhow I'm glad to see that a much needed change has come. I love my job. I love teaching at Johnson, even though alot of people would not agree with me. I know that I was sent there because it is there I needed to be. Already this year I have received 2 very poor evaluations. I have gone from receiving 4 to 1. In the meantime I have received a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction and can't seem to do anything right as far as Impact is concerned. Because of Mr. Gray and the Union, I have been encouraged. I just hope that something is done before another group of very good and dedicated teachers and professional are thrown to the side. Thank you for the meeting, for making us all feel that what we said mattered and above all, we are good teachers. HELP!!!

Being a related service provider yourself for so many years, Candi, I find it hard to believe that you don't see a need for RSPs to have a separate summit. I mean, one of the items on the agenda was about The Healthy Schools Act or "breakfast in the classroom." How does that affect RSPs?! We don't have to lug the meals to the classrooms and serve them at the students' desks. And while we have concerns about IMPACT, we don't get evaluated 5 times or by MEs and we are not measured by "value-added" or test scores or have to follow the TLF. Our concerns are no less important, though different. For example, many of us are concerned about HOW we are managed by inept PMs and some of the ridiculous demands they are placing on us, apparently just to justify the time spent in their positions.

As you already know, all ET-15s are not created equal, so we need a place to air our grievances and concerns, as well.

Candi and Nathan this is a step in the right direction. The transition team heard from an enormous number of teachers.By voting the team clearly saw that we need a new evaluation system and not IMPACT. We all know that IMPACT was designed to get rid of veteran teachers. Pretty soon the system will have only new teachers. What will happen to our children? Our children need a balanced workforce. The team must also look at evaluatimg principals. There is also IMPACT for Principals. I wonder is the IMPACT scores for Principals are listed online just as the teachers? The transition team must also look at the principals running our schools. These principals have not been in the classroon long enough to really understand what goes on in the classroom. Bring back the older principals who knew what they were doing and knew how to run a school. Working conditions under these principals are toxic. I hate getting up in the morning to go to work. Before IMPACT, I loved to go to work and teach my kids.

Thank you for all of your help! IMPACT is creating a great deal of stress for many of DCPS teachers. I am so nervous and stressed this year that I do not enjoy my job. I'm considering another career (after 20 years)because of IMPACT. I used to love teaching! I did not experience any problems with IMPACT last year. It's a different ballgame at my new school. Teachers at our school tried to talk to Chancellor Henderson about IMPACT and attendance. Chancellor Henderson visited our school two weeks ago.

I have two concerns. School attendance is a huge one! Many students do not come to school and they come to school late on a regular basis. How can teachers be held accountable even for Dibels, TRC, and Burst with such poor attendance? What about test scores? I expressed my concerns to Chancellor Henderson about attendance. Eight of my students already missed over two weeks (10 days) of school this year. (Student A -26 days, student B-25 days, student C-22 days, student D-17 days.) A large majority of my students are late for school and we wait until 9:00 a.m. to take attendance. Attendance was recorded at 8:45 a.m. at my school last year. What is being done about school attendance? In addition, I'm concerned about class size. I was asked to teach a class of 33+ kindergarten students at the beginning of the year. Ridiculous! Some principals do not respect the WTU contract. There are too many students in many classrooms. I talked to several teachers. I am down to 23 students since some students moved. Will this problem be resolved next year? Keep up the great work! :)

The summit was not a place to air our grievances. It was an opportunity to bring our members together to speak directly with members of Gray's transition team so that we could help to shape/influence his education reform agenda. There are many issues that our members face but in the 2 hour timeframe we were only able to address a limited number of issues. We decided to include IMPACT evaluations since this is a concern for all of our members and breakfast in the classroom is the second biggest for our members. It was our hope that ALL members would have been able to address their discipline specific issues at the smaller tables with their facilitator especially as it related to IMPACT and working conditions. These conversations will be included in an overall report. I do hope as an RSP you had the opportunity to share your issues.

Had we provided a meeting only for service providers, then other union members with unique issues different than classroom teachers such as school counselors, librarians, athletic trainers, etc. would have argued that we weren't addressing their issues as well. The goal for this event was to try to address everyone's issues in one gathering. This is not to suggest that the WTU cannot bring together groups to hear our members concerns. In fact as the WTU VP, I have been meeting with schools weekly. I have asked members of our Exec. board to help facilitate meetings with specialty groups including Related Service Providers. On February 17, I have a meeting with school based service providers. If you are interested in setting up a meeting with special education service providers, please feel free to contact me @ helpdesk@wtulocal6.org

Thanks for your Blog. I always look forward to reading it! I am a counselor at Anacostia and the IMPACT evaluation has caused a great deal of stress for some counselors there.

As high school counselors we do a lot of scheduling, then re-scheduling, then re-scheduling some more after we realize that the SPED students aren't in the right classes based upon their IEPs. But the IMPACT only allows a small percentage of the evaluation to be focused on scheduling while the fact of the matter is, a great deal of our time is spent on scheduling and the principals do not want to consider that fact when filling out the IMPACT. The principals want to hold us accountable for a guidance curriculum and family relations, etc., which are all fine and dandy if we had the time to do all that. Besides we are responsible now for registering students for ECR (evening credit recovery) and summer school, not to mention referring seniors to the STAY programs. And something that's new this year (well it was supposed to have been implemented in previous years but this year there is an actual timeline for completion), is the implementation of the IGP plan for all students. Counselors are responsible for this now. Problem is: we just don't have time to do it all. We take work home pretty much every night without a word about over-time or admin. premium.

We do a tremendous amount of work at Anacostia, and I'm sure senior high counselors all over the city can say the same thing, but the IMPACT does not cover all of our duties. Only if we luck up on an enlightened principal can we expect to be recognized on the IMPACT for all that we do.Let's change the IMPACT!!!!! I'm with you 100 per cent.

I really don't see IMPACT as that bad. I taught in DCPS when we used the PPEP system, which was laughably ineffective. I was rated as "exceeds expectations" and got zero feedback on my teaching.

When IMPACT was implemented, my scores did go down. Instead of being rated "exceeds" I was rated just effective -- even on the lower end. At first, I was pissed. But then I also got real feedback from master educators, and when I reflected on my practices I did find lots of room for improvement. As a result of that reflection, my scores did go up and my students are doing better.

I know my situation is likely different from others', but I just want to put out the idea that the problem might not be IMPACT. The problem might be that teachers in DC were used to getting over-evaluated, and now that we're being evaluated fairly we don't like it.

If you reflect and honestly believe that your rating is unfair, I'm not going to disagree with you. But just because it's lower doesn't mean it's wrong. We have to be open to criticism in order to do our best!

If you read my post again, you'll see that I said that many of the teachers who leave during the first five years do not have their contracts renewed.

As one who taught for 42 years, I know this business about teachers "not being accountable" is a big fat lie. Many teachers are counseled out during the first five years or just realize themselves that they are not suited. In addition to that, many veterans resign or retire when they start getting many complaints from parents, colleagues and administrators. Teachers have contracts so they are rarely "fired" as you must surely know.

For most of my career in low-income schools, the administration had a very difficult time retaining teachers. Because of this, almost every teacher who chose to stay in teaching got a "satisfactory" evaluation. Nationwide, over 90% of all teachers were considered effective. So this was a situation related to social and economic forces and not teacher accountability. The only reason we're talking about it now is because of the recession.

Teaching is the most self-selective of all the professions. I like to think it's because teachers have so much integrity that they choose to quit teaching when they are not effective.

The problem for DC is how to attract and retain experienced and successful teachers. I hope the union makes certain that this happens. For too many years, poor kids have gotten the least experienced teachers and this needs to stop.

i hate to give Michelle Rhee any credit, but she DID show us why unions are necessary. With weakened protections for teachers, she immediately fired experienced, more expensive teachers and hired young, less expensive people from organizations of which she was associated!! Was this even legal?

Well, that was exactly the sort of thing districts used to do before teachers had due process rights. And Rhee reminded us of why they are needed.

to SE Teacher - I hope you go public with your story,showing evidence of your increased effectiveness and your students' improved performance. This is the only completely positive report about IMPACT that I have heard and I'm sure DCPS, the union and our new mayor would like to get a full report on it to use when reviewing the evaluation system.

I hate IMPACT. Not that I didn't quickly get used to it and finish last school year with effective and over a 3.0. Not that my ME didn't surprise me this year with an even higher rating. It's the 5 yearly observations, 4 of them unannounced, the feeling that they're trying to catch you do something wrong and get rid of you. This is what's giving me so much stress. Eighty percent of DC teachers, me included, are not dependent on DC CAS scores for their evaluations, as the Group 1 teachers are. So it's not the test scores piece that personally stresses me out with IMPACT. Yes, I got little feedback from PPEP and get exceeds, plus barely one evaluation a year. But the feedback I'm getting under IMPACT from both my ME and principal is generally not useful. All this stress and pretty useless feedback. Please take IMPACT away...

I was unable to attend the meeting because of other commitments. I applaud the WTU and its efforts to find a new evaluation tool. My biggest concern is that it will not be soon enough. I know that my job and that of several of my coworkers will be in jeopardy because of IMPACT and its unfair evaluation technics and its unfair distribution of percentages in certain grade levels. So will things be fixed soon enough to save our jobs this year?

I'm glad SE pointed out the positives of IMPACT, although I don't support it wholeheartedly. However, one change I would make in IMPACT is I might have only four evaluations a year instead of 5 - 2 by the ME and 2 by the principal.

Better yet, another change I would consider is letting teachers decide who evaluates them. Some teachers feel MEs are incompetent and that principals are qualified to evaluate. Other teachers, like myself, believe our principals are biased and that MEs are more impartial and provide more useful feedback. I would prefer to have my principal evaluate me 1X and the MEs to evaluate me 3X.

I can't definitively answer whether will IMPACT be fixed in time before the end of the year but we certainly are advocating for a fair evaluation system. We are working on a number of different fronts so stay tuned for more information. This evaluation instrument is flawed and should have been piloted first.

Sorry I missed the event! I will make the next one for sure! I was so sick--I think it's the flu...I have still been coming to work with an extensiveheadache....This is what we/educators do--our jobs well!

Unfortunately, I will also be quitting, as I cannot have IMPACT end up making me look like I am incompetent in teaching. My scores last year ended up in the 3's, but when averaged out with the first two low scores, still were not that great. This year, I was made to take a completely different position in my school. I am no longer a regular classroom teacher, but a "specials" teacher. After teaching for more than a decade, and being forced into this new position, my scores for the first two IMPACT's this year were horrible.

I will be moving on to another district that actually treats teachers much more like the professionals that we are. DCPS, or at least in the case of my school, seems to look for what is wrong with our teaching instead of looking for positives. Plus, we are evaluated by people who have never even taught what we are teaching!

If this mess could be fixed, that would be wonderful and I might consider staying another year.However, my passion for teaching has never been so stifled. I absolutely want to cry almost every day I am there.

Also, ridiculous DC doesn't do more with absentee students. Meanwhile, if we are absent more than once a quarter, we get a minus ten on our IMPACT.Go figure...

Washington, DC - The District of Columba State Board of Education (DCSBOE) will hold a public meeting on the role of teacher evaluation systems in public and public charter schools.

The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 5:30 p.m. at 441 4th Street, NW, in the District of Columbia State Board of Education Chambers, located on the lobby level of the building.

Constituents who wish to comment at the meeting are required to notify the State Board of Education in advance by contacting the Staff Assistant, Jamikka Kendrick, by phone at (202) 741-0888 or by e-mail at Jamikka.Kendrick@dc.gov forty-eight hours before the scheduled meeting time. Please provide one electronic copy and bring fifteen copies to the hearing for the State Board members to view.

The meeting will air live on District Knowledge Network (DKN) Comcast Channel 99, RCN Channel 18, and Fios Channel 12.

My Dad named me Candi with an i. Thank God for him ;--) Otherwise you'd be calling me Markie. What was my Mom thinking? Luv her anyway. My parents Lish (like delicious) & Clif. Gram, Pap, Mommie Ella & Bush. My grandparents had a profound influence & impact on my life. I miss & love them immensely. If my parents hadn't been my parents I would have wanted them to be my friends. They are such "cool" people. At the very least they would both be on my party invitation list if we weren't related.
I'm thankful for the love of my family. Because of the love & support of my family & favor from God, I was destined for really great things.